Lawmakers Study Changes In Telecommunications Law

Herald Standard:

Verizon plans to bust into the cable industry for the first time in Pennsylvania offering competition to Comcast over newly built fiber-optics lines in the southeastern part of the state.

For proprietary reasons, the phone giant is so far keeping the details secret, except to say that the new service will be among the 50 municipalities in Philadelphia’s four suburban counties to which it’s negotiated franchise agreements.
The change indicates what many see as the future of the telecommunications industry: a one-stop shop for a consumer’s multiple communication needs, from Internet, to cable television, to phone service.

The question before the Pennsylvania Legislature right now is whether to streamline that process for Verizon and other phone companies, in the interests of competition and lower cable bills, through statewide franchising agreements with cable providers.

Essentially, this would do away with a system of local control in which cable companies must negotiate with individual municipalities for exclusive rights to consumers.

Legislation is pending in both the House and Senate to adopt such an arrangement. The consumer affair’s committees in both chambers are poised for possible votes as early as next week.